New Jersey Youth Symphony

Our Stories: Lily

October 24, 2018 by Alice Hamlet

Meet Lily from the New Jersey Youth Symphony! Watch her video and follow all of Our Stories on our blog.

Youth Symphony and Montclair State University Orchestra Concert

October 9, 2018 by Alice Hamlet

NJYS Youth Symphony
Montclair State University Symphony Orchestra
Helen H. Cha-Pyo, Conductor

Saturday, October 27 at 8 PM
Tickets $15 Available at www.peakperfs.org or 973-655-5112

Shostakovich: Festive Overture
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5
Corigliano: Phantasmagoria on The Ghosts of Versailles for Orchestra
Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber

New Jersey Youth Symphony 40th Anniversary Partners with Social Services Agencies – Make a donation of goods at the concert!

Partner: Toni’s Kitchen
Toni’s Kitchen is using the simple backpack to provide healthy food to families in the community. Each backpack contains healthy food and snacks. We invite you to donate one of the following items at the concert: peanut butter, pasta, tuna, pasta sauce, oatmeal, healthy cereal, rice, beans, snack bars, and raisins (no glass please).

Notes from the Train: A Talk with Naomi Youngstein

October 4, 2018 by Alice Hamlet

Notes from the Train by Alice Hamlet | October 4, 2018

An interview about the upcoming How to Practice Workshop with New Jersey Symphony Orchestra violinist Naomi Youngstein

Performing Arts School
60 Locust Avenue in Berkeley Heights
Friday, October 12 @ 7:00 PM
FREE and Open to the Public

How long have you been a member of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra?
I joined in November of 1987, so nearly 31 years ago.

What are some highlights of your favorite performances (or one favorite performance) with NJSO?
Two performances stand out: Zdenek Macal conducting anything by Dvořák, and Xian Zhang conducting the Pines of Rome—earthshaking!

When and how did you start amassing tips and insights about practicing for students?
My own teacher at Manhattan School of Music, Burton Kaplan, wrote books and gave workshops about practicing. I use some of his ideas, those of my colleagues, and a lot of my own. Over the years, I’ve learned what works for the school age student. The most important thing to know is that each student may need a different selection of techniques.

If you had to give just one tip about practicing to a beginning student, what would it be? And for an advanced student, would that one tip be different?
For the beginner, I’d suggest always starting by imagining the sound that you want to make. Often the beginner is so concerned with being “right” that they don’t always hear what’s coming out of their instrument. For the advanced student, I’d suggest knowing one’s goals for every piece during each practice session. The advanced student is juggling many things at different levels of preparedness, and deciding what you’d like to accomplish is vital.

What do your own practice sessions consist of?
I always play scales, often etudes and exercises, and usually whatever upcoming pieces we’re performing with the NJSO. This week I reviewed all the harder sections of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony which we perform at the end of this week.

How do you suggest students structure or divide their practice time (ie scales, etudes, repertoire)?
Each student has different needs. Try to get to everything in each session, but each student’s teacher can help the student set priorities. Those priorities can change from week to week.

How important is the use of a metronome in practice?
CRUCIAL!! How do you know if you’re improving if you don’t measure it? You can’t know if you’re controlling a skill or a passage unless you use the metronome. Always write down what metronome marking you’ve achieved. Who could remember such a number from day to day?

For students playing pitched instruments, how do you suggest they work on intonation?
Listening to chords, tonality, matching pitches, always use whole phrases. Out of tune notes always occur in a context, so simply playing higher or lower doesn’t help. Knowing if one is sharp or flat, and how much, is super important.

Favorite food: Definitely pasta

What are you listening to these days: I walk two miles every day and listen to podcasts all the time—my favorite subjects are food, travel, politics, and shows about NYC.

When not commuting, Alice Hamlet is the Director of Marketing at the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts and is also on the faculty of the Performing Arts School, teaching cello and music theory.

Notes from the Train: Beethoven 9

October 2, 2018 by Alice Hamlet

Notes from the Train by Alice Hamlet | October 2, 2018

An interview about performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra with New Jersey Youth Symphony Manager of Orchestras Stacy Beltran

NJYS Manager of Orchestras Stacy Beltran will perform with Newark Voices, a project-based community choir supported by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, for the NJSO 2018-19 season opening. Formed to engage talented singers and experienced choral musicians from the Greater Newark community, Newark Voices will partner with the Montclair State University Chorale to perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” led by Xian Zhang for two NJPAC performances—Friday, October 5 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, October 7 at 3 pm. On Sunday, audience members can join the choir in singing a portion of the Beethoven in the lobby prior to the concert for ChoralYou.

For tickets and more information, click here.

How long have you been working at NJYS? What do you like most about the job?
This is my sixth season with NJYS. Witnessing the incredible growth of our young and talented musicians is the most fulfilling part of my job.

Tell us about your voice background.
I have been singer all my life. I would sing in church and in school where I would sneak away to the choir room to hang out with other choir members during lunch. I owe my singing to the amazing choir teachers that taught me all through school: Dan Anderson, Fairview Elementary; Jack Bender, Bloomfield High School; and Dr. John Floreen, Rutgers University. Although I was not a music major in college, being in choir afforded me wonderful opportunities, including traveling on tour to Wales and Italy.

Have you sung Beethoven’s Ninth before? If so, where and when?
Actually, this is the first time I will sing this piece. The piece has tested all of my musical talents, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity.

How long did it take to learn the music and your part?
I had to audition for the community choir (Newark Voices) back in May, so I’ve been practicing for about four months now.

How many different vocal parts are there in B9? I think you said that you were singing Alto 2?
Yes, I sing Alto 2—always have! All 8 parts (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass) are represented in this piece. In one of the sections, you will hear a four-part men’s chorus, and they are amazing! Our very own Terrence Thornhill from the Paterson Music Project, an MSU alumnus, will also be singing!

Was the audition scary? What did you have to do at your audition for Newark Voices?
Ah! Yes, very scary. I have not auditioned for something since college, but it felt good to get back into audition prep mode. The audition consisted of five excerpts from Beethoven’s Ninth for accuracy of notes, rhythm, and German diction, and also a sight-reading example.

Where else do you sing on a regular basis? Do you have a band or ensemble?
Choral music is great, but I also love singing jazz. I serve as social media and PR volunteer for the Rutgers-Newark undergraduate jazz ensemble, Mosaic Jazz, under the direction of Radam Schwartz, and I perform with the other alumni on occasion.

Anything else you’d like to add?
Please come see the performances! The NJSO and MSU choir do this piece great justice and I promise you will love it. If you happen to see me on Sunday at ChoralYou in the NJPAC lobby, say hi!

Amused; musings from the ED: Beauty and the Messy Desk

September 27, 2018 by Alice Hamlet

Amused; musings from the ED by Karen Deschere | September 27, 2018

Beauty and the Messy Desk
Those of you who have been in my office know that I don’t have the neatest desk. It’s been a lifetime of clutter ever since I was a kid. Each new job, living arrangement, or New Year’s resolution to keep the desk clean was just beyond my daily ability. And, I’ve gradually come to accept it even though I still find myself apologizing when I have a visitor (many of whom will empathize with me!).

Do you ever watch detective or medical shows on TV where the dedicated doc or cop is wracking her brain trying to solve the mystery to no avail, and then she goes out to dinner, or to the mall, and something totally different is triggered in her brain, and voila! the mystery is solved?

That happens to me with my messy desk. I may be working on a project when I may be interrupted, and I need to rummage through the desk to find that one piece of paper that I know is under this other stack of papers. As I am searching, almost always some other tidbit arises that reminds me of another project, or provides a touch of insight into what I was working on.

Maybe that happens to you neat-deskers as well; you’ll have to let me know.

I think beauty works in the same way. We are bombarded by so much stuff in our lives – work and school deadlines, devastating tragedies, so many issues beyond our control, that I have decided I need beauty breaks. I’m not talking about skin care, but about music. Just five minutes of something beautiful can give me the respite needed to return to the task at hand. With all our devices, we are no longer far away from being able to access something beautiful to take our mind and our heart to a different place for a few minutes.

This kind of beauty break might just be what our students need as well. Are you stuck on that organic chemistry problem? What if your instrument was on the bed behind you and you turned and played a few phrases of a piece you are working on. Do you think one of those random connections might be made between the music and your chemistry homework? I think it might, and if it doesn’t, well at least you had a few minutes to enjoy the beauty of your music.

Social Service Agencies and the NJYS 40th Anniversary Season

September 17, 2018 by Alice Hamlet

Development Blog by Elizabeth Piercey | September 2018

New Jersey Youth Symphony is excited to celebrate our 40^th anniversary season this year! To commemorate this milestone, we are partnering with social service agencies for each of our 13 concerts. We will ask audiences to bring an in-kind donation to help serve families in the local community.

Here is the schedule of concerts and partners for the fall season. We invite you to attend all NJYS concerts and make an in-kind donation to our partners!

Youth Symphony with Montclair State University Concert at Alexander Kasser Theater

Saturday, October 27, 2018 at 8 pm

Partner: Toni’s Kitchen

Suggested In Kind Donation: Support area youth through the Healthy Backpack Program, including: Peanut butter, pasta, tuna, pasta sauce, oatmeal, healthy cereal, rice, beans, snack bars, and raisins (no glass please).

Youth Orchestra Concert at Union County Performing Arts Center

Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 3 pm

Partner: St. Joseph Social Service Center

In Kind Donation: Toiletry items, including: toothpaste, toothbrush, dental floss, lip balm, soap, deodorant, travel-size shampoo and conditioner, travel-size body lotion, travel-size mouthwash, travel-size hand sanitizer, comb, brush, hair ties, and tissue packs.